Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, November 3, 2004

The Oakville Grocery & Marketplace in Cupertino, which shared the name of a well-known, 122-year-old Napa Valley market, closed this week after four months of business. Despite the setback, the concept will be tried in other Bay Area locations, Oakville's chief executive said.

The Cupertino store was a prototype Oakville Grocery more akin to value- minded grocer Trader Joe's than to the much smaller, high-end gourmet deli in Napa Valley. Unlike three Oakville stores still operating in the Wine Country and Palo Alto, the Cupertino location did not have a deli and sold packaged foods and wines at more moderate prices.

Customers came in expecting to buy made-to-order sandwiches and were disappointed, so new Oakville stores scheduled to open next year in undisclosed locations in the East Bay will include delis, said Ciaran Byrne, the chief executive.

He was among a group of San Francisco investors who in March 2003 acquired the Oakville Grocery business with plans to build a larger chain of food and wine stores. The Cupertino store opened quietly in July and hosted a higher-profile grand opening in September.

Oakville will adapt its format to avoid confusion among shoppers familiar with the Oakville name, Byrne said. "We've learned a lot about what works" and will combine features from the old and new formats when planning new stores, he said.